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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: Icon - 2018 Mack Double Launch Coaster

I should point out that I am talking about coaster enthusiasts and not the general public! Clearly this is a non-issue for the public or for BPB.

:)
 
The view of Icon from that "new" bridge is going to be amazing... one of the infamous photos in the UK will never be the same again...
 
It’s a decent point that depending on what happens with the entrance area and access around it, it might not be too easy to get a full view of that second half of the ride from outside the queue. A lot of it will be hunkered down in the old lake area and obscured by its own station, Avalanche etc. Perhaps there will be a decent view on the other side by the shop on top of the tunnel.
 
To those saying they haven't been on Helix.... Fix this. Helix is ten times the coaster Icon dreams of being. ;)
 
MakoMania said:
Depends if you prefer inversions or transitions
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That’s not really a differentiator, Helix has plenty of transitions and airtime hills (and one particularly fun transition with airtime) and the inversions easily fit within the extra 1000ft it has on Icon. Icon based on the CG POV has a lot of wide sweeping curves which worry me but you can never really tell with POV’s how the thing will ride.

I’m not though going to assume where Icon will fall on the Mack scale of good until I have ridden it.
 
Dave said:
That’s not really a differentiator, Helix has plenty of transitions and airtime hills (and one particularly fun transition with airtime) and the inversions easily fit within the extra 1000ft it has on Icon. Icon based on the CG POV has a lot of wide sweeping curves which worry me but you can never really tell with POV’s how the thing will ride.

I’m not though going to assume where Icon will fall on the Mack scale of good until I have ridden it.
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Those aren't my own words, they're the words of the Mack Rides guys at IAAPA. Go argue with them :p

Both rides are relatively similar on airtime moments (although the strength of airtime remains to be seen) but Icon has so many more non inversion transitions than Helix, it's not even close.
 
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I've been on Helix and was blown away with it, it was so much better than I was expecting and eventually spent most of my second day at Liseberg re-riding Helix. I do think Icon will be better, that may well be because of my connections with the Pleasure Beach, but I do think it'll be better, the near misses and the interaction with existing attractions is a major factor in it for me, I also think where we'll get airtime will be some really good 'near miss' moments, for example the airtime hill that's going to go through the Big One.

We can only wait and see, but I am confident this is going to claim the title for the UK's best coaster.
 
ScottPBE said:
I've been on Helix and was blown away with it, it was so much better than I was expecting and eventually spent most of my second day at Liseberg re-riding Helix. I do think Icon will be better, that may well be because of my connections with the Pleasure Beach, but I do think it'll be better, the near misses and the interaction with existing attractions is a major factor in it for me, I also think where we'll get airtime will be some really good 'near miss' moments, for example the airtime hill that's going to go through the Big One.

We can only wait and see, but I am confident this is going to claim the title for the UK's best coaster.
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You mean like Helix does?
 
Personally I think this will ride a lot more like Manta at SeaWorld San Diego than Helix, albeit a lot faster than Manta. I thought that ride was a really good fun coaster with some great ejector air / sideways moments and Icon shares the same ground hugging, fast directional changes that Manta has, so should be full of those moments.

I liked Helix, but nowhere near as much as others do :)
 
Had a nice stroll round the park boundary this afternoon, better than working.
You can now see little bits of the track from outside the park...just!
The strange mini gates by Kickin Chicken are one viewing spot, and the ride can be seen from the south gate, but there isn't much track to see yet.
I thought it was going to be a woodie?
 
I've never ridden a Mack Mega but just by looking at the layouts for Icon and Helix, they look like very different rides.

The layout for Icon looks like the main focus is quick, snappy transitions with lots of low-to-ground turns, airtime moments and a couple of inversions to add some variety. Helix on the other hand has a much more inversion-focused layout, with other elements (airtime/turns) breaking these up - whereas inversions are not the main objective with Icon.

I don't see why Icon needs to be constantly compared with Helix anyway, they're two completely different coasters.
 
Have to say the station seems enormous and I can't work out how the onloading and off loading will work.

Great to see the park continuing to update us.
 
The station looks terribly boring, boxy and bland. More like a warehouse than a station.

Disappointingly uninspired - I’m surprised it looks so bland and hope it will have something to embellish it. I’m not really seeing how those embellishments might come about though.
 
venny said:
The station looks terribly boring, boxy and bland. More like a warehouse than a station.

Disappointingly uninspired - I’m surprised it looks so bland and hope it will have something to embellish it. I’m not really seeing how those embellishments might come about though.
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I'm pretty sure its still a work in progress.
 
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